Mixing Fun Into Poetry Lessons Can Engage Students

Incorporating poetry into lesson plans and getting young students to engage with poetry can be difficult. Students might think poetry is too difficult or they might fail to relate to the poems presented.

Finding innovative ways to pique interest in poetry has been a conundrum for teachers across generations. These struggles have been chronicled stories and movies like the classic film, “Dead Poets Society,” where a new teacher tries to spark interest in the beloved art from a group of students without focus. However, teachers today do not need to take such drastic measures for getting kids to interact. By using technology and creative lesson plans, today’s educators can incorporate kids’ poetry into the classroom to inspire their students.

Using online lesson plans

In the past, teachers have spent countless hours developing lesson plans, reworking them and trying to figure out what works and what does not. Today, educators can hop online to lesson plan websites like Lesson Plans Page and track down the best ideas from other teachers around the world. By using the experiences of other educators, a teacher can learn new ideas, examine approaches by other teachers and listen to community feedback on which plans turned out great. Teachers can search for poetry lesson plans as well as share their own.

Poetry beyond the blank page

Younger students struggle with the blank page approach to poetry. It seems difficult just to get started and highly intimidating. Scholastic features poetry lesson plans that offer unique ways to keep students involved in the poetry process, making it simple, fun and interactive. These poetry lesson plans combine craft skills, art, fill-in sheets and inspirational ideas to help students start writing. By changing the process of writing poetry from a blank page to a picture or a riddle, students are less hesitant to get started and can simply express their creative ideas.

From reading to writing

More than anything else, students need examples of poetry in order to start writing their own. When teachers use classic examples from great writers, many students have difficulty relating to the works, grasping the meaning or understanding the process. While highlighting key poems from literature are crucial for children in the long run, using kids’ poetry will help show how the process can be fun. When students hear contemporary poetry written by their peers, they will have an easier time comprehending the basic concepts and gain the confidence that they can write their own poems, too.

Incorporating technology

Poetry classes today can utilize easy tools right in the classroom. When students hear poetry spoken aloud, they learn the emotional impact of the words and how rhymes can play out. Teachers can go online and bring up poetry spoken by famous poets as well as educational lessons for teaching poetry. YouTube also features videos with children reciting poetry, many combining visual aids and musical backgrounds to enhance the experience. Teachers can also encourage students to add their poetry work to online educational portfolios and share electronically with their family and friends.

Encouraging creativity

Once students get started on their assignments, teachers need to encourage them to work by giving thoughtful feedback. Teachers can make sure to instruct students on the subjective approach to reading poetry, offering intriguing and out of the box ideas for what certain poems mean. This will help students handle feedback from their peers without getting frustrated that others didn’t get their meaning.

Today’s poetry classes

Teachers today have new avenues for engaging their students and making poetry a more interactive and fun experience. Online lesson plans can motivate educators with new ideas and practices, while also giving them more time to focus on other work. With technology, students can listen and watch poetry reading online right in the classroom, inspiring them with creativity. Kids’ poetry doesn’t have to be difficult. By listening to fellow classmates and following fun activities, students can move past their writers block and start expressing themselves freely with high spirits.